horse training

hello,
i just bought an half quarter and half arabian horse for my daughter , the reason i bought her was because she was locked up in a small pen that stayed muddy all the time , she only 4 yrs old and sweet as a bumble bee , man am i going thru a phrase tring to saddle break her lololol , i have been working with her for about two weeks , i have her to wher yu can sit on her back and she wont buck , but the problem is getting her to go shes a mare and man is she stubborn lololol , she dosent want to follow commands from reins either , so im currentley working with her on that part and man is it taking patience that i didnt know that i had lololol so my question is ,,,, i know this is a long shot ,,,, what do i need to do to get her to go and follow rein commands , ive been leading her around and talking sweet to her when she follows commands things like when i gentley pull on reins to get her to turn left or right , been giving her snacks and rewarding her all the time , but when yu get on her its a different story , so any advice i mean any would be greatley appreciated
thanks in advance
reed

 

Two words: driving reins.

Tried to find a link that would help explain and found this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpjMQxiBIKU

Not very good quality video, but may help.

The reins are run through a surcingle like this:

http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CDS/PROD/1070/22A4

Wife is an AQHA Life Member, although we are no longer in the business.

 

hello somebody told me about that but daughter wont let me do it , looks like i gonna have to put a foot down in this case , but man thanks so much really appreciate it , im looking foward to riding this horse shes a very prettery one , verry gentle just when yu try to get on her is when the patience comes in lololol and again man thanks so much will try to let ya know how it goes , ,
thanks again
reed

 

"Stubborn" would be the Arab half.

 

If i could just get her to move when i get on her id be alrite lololol , man that stubborness , i aint never seen a horse that stubborn: , but now since i have her for my daughter im gonna try my best to get her rideable ,the guy i bought her from said he used to ride her without bit in her mouth , but unfortunaly i didnt get to see him ride her , soooo i guess i on my own ,
again thanks man, really appriecate it any other info yu can give me would be greatley appreciated ,
thanks in advance
reed

 

If planning on training the horse for your daughter, involve her in grooming the horse several times a day. Also, get a salt lick.

There are many good books and videos available. You also might want to involve a professional for a while.

 

I have trained a few horses in my life and never really had much trouble getting them to go. It sounds to me like she is not relaxed and OK with the whole saddle thing yet. I would agree on the driving reins. A round pen and a couple 3/4 inch cotton ropes also works. Use the commands that you will use when on her back. Check out Craig Cameron on the internet or even RFDTV. THat said I think you are doing well. In my opinion the patcience (sp) will have to hold out alot longer. It usually takes a few years to get a horse completely trained and 6 month to a year just to get them riding. I just thaought of another pointer. When I was young my uncle and I broke a couple of mules. Talk about stubborn. We used another trained horse to lead them around and used the proper commands when moving. Be careful not to let her do anything that she wants to but use the leader follower to show her what she is supposed to do.

 

Good points from jfolmer. On the subject of stubborness, I would suggest you never EVER let the horse out-stubborn you. They are very VERY good at remembering things they've gotten away with; give them an inch and they'll take the whole farm. Plus always try to end on a good note even if you had intended to do a little more

BTW, a lot of non-Arab owners like to refer to Arabs as "Airheads".

And just a late thought, but at four years old, she's going to be a bit set in her ways.